Posts Tagged ‘David Bowie’

When Dean and Phil set out to make The Lady Killers, they believed it to be an exaggerated depiction of toxic masculinity at play. It turns out they were making a feature film that critic Matt Giles says “could not be more culturally relevant.” He calls it “exactly the kind of movie we need right now.” After a robust round of “Celebrity Deaths” (this week celebrating several actors, singers and musicians), your friends in podcasting wade into the waters of toxic masculinity to discuss Louis CK, Irving Thalberg, Woody Allen, Kevin Spacey, Bryan Singer, Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, recent gun violence, terror attacks, lions, tigers and bears. Oh, my! Watch out patriarchy, Dean and Phil have you in their sights! Oh, and they talk movies, too. 1971′s THX 1138 and 2017′s The Man Who Invented Christmas and A Ghost Story get discussed.

The finale of “Twin Peaks: The Return” coincides with the launch of Dean’s new comedy pop-up, the Hilarium Sydney. So it’s a (spoiler free!) show full of heartfelt farewells and hearty hellos this week … Your friends in podcasting say “so long” to TV’s Oscar Goldman (the great Richard Anderson, who once was a guest on this very podcast – episode 277), to the Tony-winning author of The Elephant Man, to legendary comedian and actor Shelly Berman, and to the awfully darn sweet man behind perhaps the most terrifying film of all time! Then, Dean and Phil say “hello” to two loyal listeners who wrote in with questions, one about a filmmaking colleague, the other about Civil War-era movies. The Civil War and Reconstruction have very much been on Phil’s mind as both a storyteller and as an American, and he and Dean and have been looking for the right opportunity to dig into the topic. Along the way, they also discuss a handful of classic films, the “global weirding” of the weather in the USA, and more!

Longtime listeners know this about their friends in podcasting: They are often at their best making sense of a world seemingly gone wild, and boy, does that seem to be needed this week! No sooner had they finished recording this show than news came in about the death of musical great Leon Russell, so Phil opens the show with a tribute to him and some thoughts about the election before joining with Dean for remembrances of another legendary musician (and poet and artist) as well as an actor who once embodied the epitome of suave cool. A few different and worthwhile films get celebrated, including Loving, the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the modern western gets discussed. The Presidential election results and how those results might serve by leading to positive change get analyzed in depth. Often YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour proves to be irreverent, informative and insightful. This week it is downright nourishing.

While your friends in podcasting were away during the past two weeks of pre-recorded shows, much has happened. Yet, before Dean and Phil “Point the compass of your brain to a journey on the map of the entire infinite”, Phil pulls out his soapbox to address a controversy surrounding the young actress (and U.N. Goodwill Ambassador) Emma Watson. Then, chameleon David Bowie, actor Alan Rickman, cinematographer Haskell Wexler, the “tall man” from the Phantasm movies and the man who changed the politics of Hollywood’s Awards Season are all remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Speaking of Awards Season, Dean and Phil have news and views on the Golden Globes, the Oscars the Directors Guild nominations and more! The Revenant, Beasts of No Nation, Son of Saul, Brooklyn, Amy and The Look of Silence all get discussed. All that, plus Phil has good news for fans saddened by the revelation of the fact that the first episode of The X-Files revival is … not good, Dean weighs in with his thoughts on Sean Penn going face-to-face with notorious drug kingpin “El Chapo”, he and Phil share what they’re reading, and Dean wraps things up with an update on his oft-delayed, much-anticipated graphic novel. It’s a lot to cover in one hour, but not too much when it’s YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour!

Dean Haglund, the actor, improv comic and inventor (best known as “Langly,” one of the three computer-hacking geeks on “The X-Files” and their spin-off series “The Lone Gunmen”) engages in thought-provoking, insightful, and irreverent cultural conversation with his co-host and producing partner, independent filmmaker and certified violence prevention specialist Phil Leirness in the production offices of Rational Exuberance. Warning: Dean and Phil's usually hilarious and frequently inspiring discussions are habit-forming, so please, enjoy responsibly!